Disney and Doughnuts

I have a lot of work to get through this week for university and then on Friday I am finished for Christmas. Next weekend literally cannot come quick enough. The thought of the amount of time I will be spending reading psychological statistics and data this week is extremely off putting so I figured one last day to myself before I knuckle down was acceptable, so my mum and I went shopping.

The three main shops I wanted to go in were Primark, Superdrug and HMV. In Primark I didn't get much, only a hat, some cosy tights and some gloves. My mum on the other hand went a little crazy and got two pairs of boots, two cardigans, a Christmas cardigan, a Christmas jumper and slippers for my brother, jewellery for some friends and a flannel shirt! I did pick up a few things from Superdrug (*hint hint* Zoella) but they are going to be kept back as Christmas gifts so you'll just need to wait and see what I got! HMV was where I went a little crazy, along with some Christmas gifts for my dad, I got a couple (haha!) of Disney DVD's that I haven't already got.

Surprisingly these are six classic Disney films that I love but didn't actually own and I had vouchers given to me by a family member to spend so I couldn't help myself. I already had Lady and the Tramp 2, Cinderella 2 and 101 Dalmatians 2 so it made sense to get the originals. I used to love Pinocchio, Tarzan and The Jungle Book when I was younger but haven't seen them in years. I sense a Disney marathon occurring once I have finished all my uni work! After going a little Disney crazy, my mum wanted to go into M&S to pick up a few things for my nana for Christmas. I may have accidentally found myself wandering the Christmas section and found the pillow I have been looking for. It's quite small and was quite pricey (£12) which is not what I would normally pay for a small pillow (Primark or Tesco will do me) but it is perfect and has a little fawn on it, it's not directly Christmasy but it works with the rest of my decor. After a long day of shopping, the best thing to do is definitely to go and pay the brand new Krispy Kreme that has just been opened a visit and get a free doughnut whilst waiting in the queue. My brother went a couple days ago and the 24 doughnuts that he brought home barely lasted a week, they were so good! We decided that one more box this year would be okay and in future they would be an occasional treat because of how unhealthy (delicious) they are. We got 12 doughnuts and drove home listening to Christmas songs, had dinner and had a cup of tea and a doughnut of course.

As I finish of this post, I am sat on my bed with a mulled wine candle lit, Christmas jammies on, cup of tea in hand and Pinocchio playing in the background. I am in absolute bliss, until I wake up tomorrow and have to start on the mountain of work that is. Today in my advent calendar I got a little reindeer! Tomorrow's box looks really big so I'm really intrigued to see what it is. I am actually quite surprised at how well I am doing for Blogmas so far, I am really enjoying it and definitely think I'll complete the whole of Blogmas. Thanks for reading my 6th Blogmas post and I hope you come back tomorrow for day 7!     xxx

Christmas Jumpers and Christmas Party

So I have 7 Christmas jumpers (yes 7!) and I couldn't decide which one to wear for the Christmas party I was going to tonight. It was the St Andrew's First Aid company Christmas party tonight with our cadets joining us as well. I had quite a few options to choose from as you can see. I know it seems a little over the top to have 7 (and I may have 8 by this time tomorrow thanks to Rosie and her awesome jumper) but they have all been gathered over a couple of years so it makes it okay.

My Christmas jumpers are from a couple of different places, both the pug jumper (£12.99) and the cream and mint green patterned jumper (on sale for £7) are from New Look an the green Christmas house scene with the candy canes on the shoulders (which I believe Zoella owns) is from Primark (£10). The last 4 jumpers are all from random little shops in my town and where all between £8 and £10. The jumper I decided on was the Primark Christmas scene one and of course I wore the glittery reindeer antlers that are in the picture as well (they had bells on them!).

Tonight's Christmas party was a success and in my opinion much better than what our Christmas night was last year. I brought my Wii and loads of games, giant jenga and twister and we had the place all decorated with crackers, festive table cloths, streamers, tinsel and had the Christmas music playing in the background of course. Everybody showed up with Christmas jumpers on and looked great!  Giant jenga proved to be a huge hit despite us not being able to make a game last more than 5 minutes and twister was great (more like painful) as well. It was when it was time to play the Wii that it was my turn to shine because it's the only thing I am good at, especially Just Dance and Mario Kart. The cadets made a bad choice with those games because I definitely wasn't going easy on them! Just Dance was great fun and hilarious when we managed to convince certain people to join in to Beyonce - Crazy in Love. We made the very wise decision to play Just Dance before the food arrived instead of after, I could just imagine what that would have been like... Our local Chinese would have absolutely loved us with the 11 meals plus starters that we ordered! The box our delivery can in was massive! Nobody could finish their food so that's tomorrow night's dinner sorted. After dinner we had a mini Christmas quiz which became very competitive very quickly (so not my fault). My team did have very, very competitive people on it which is probably why we won. As the cadets are only young the Christmas party ended around 21:30 which was a shame because of how much fun we were having, there was about 30 minutes worth of cleaning up to do though so it was probably just as well it finished quite early. After the cadets had all went home and all the mess was cleaned up, what better way to end the night than sitting with crisps and juice, watching Casualty? No alcohol, no pubs  or clubs, just sitting with junk food and a medical drama, that's how us first aiders role and i definitely prefer that.

Tonight was such a great night and I am really glad that the football match that was scheduled for the early afternoon was cancelled and allowed us to make everything perfect for the party instead of first aiding in the rain. Everyone had a really good time and looking forward to Christmas even more now. 

Today in my advent calendar I got a little pram with a little baby doll, it's adorable and I got to build the pram! Thanks for reading my 5th day of blogmas and come back tomorrow for day 6! (Spoiler - I may or may not be going shopping).

xxx

Decorating for Christmas and Festive Fun

Today I went to two Christmas light switch on events as a first aider. Yesterday I was at another one and it makes me think back to when I was a child going to see the big massive Christmas tree be  switched on by Santa. Back then the council fully decorated the tree with tinsel and baubles but now they just put lights on it. There are always games, music, mince pies, shortbread, singing and occasionally reindeer at these events. The children absolutely love it and participate in everything. Learning dances at school to perform for their parents and community and the school choir learning all the songs to sing in the carol singing performance. Watching all the children sing, dance and play games, all having fun makes me wish I was still a child - with the only worry being learning the songs and dances for the Christmas light switch on. The choir was really good and the dances that the children learned were adorable. Afterwards I heard a few children say to their parents on their way home "lets put more of our decorations up" and instantly all I wanted to do was to go home and start making my room look christmasy.

After university today I browsed a couple of shops and picked up a few Christmas presents and maybe some more decorative things for my room as well - they were too cute to leave!

The first things I picked up was this pillow which is super soft and I love the saying on it! The pillow was from Primark and was only £4, I was quite surprised at the lack of festive pillows in Primark this year but at least I found one pillow I liked (just means I'll need to try the other Primarks near me). I also got a set of LED lights from Primark which were only £1.50! I broke my old lights that were star shaped so I needed a replacement and fairy lights make everything more festive. Colouring books are becoming hugely popular and I do have a few myself and enjoy them a lot (they help with stress). Naturally it was a must that I owned a Christmas colouring book plus some of the pages are beautiful which does make me reluctant to colour them in but we'll see. As you can see, I also have festive bedding (another must) I got this about ten days ago from a catalogue my mum orders from and it was only £5.99 for a single. I don't think I could have picked anything more festive especially since every word associated with Christmas is written on my bed sheets.

The last thing I picked up today was the figure skating boot tree ornament. I used to be a figure skater and I do really miss it and would absolutely love to go back to it again; because skating means so much to me, I have been looking for the perfect ornament and I finally found it! I found this one in Marks and Spencers for £3 which some might think is a little expensive for one little ornament (it is a lot smaller than it seems in the picture) but I wasn't hesitating for one moment before buying it. In Tesco a few weeks ago with my mum led me to discover that their Christmas isle had made an appearance, it was tempting me with all the cute woodland creatures and feathers and glitter, so I caved. I ended up getting not one little reindeer, but three little reindeer. All the ornaments were on 3 for 2 so it made sense. My mum also seen a little Merry Christmas sign that she liked so I picked up the two little wooden sledges with the forest detailing on them. Tesco is really cheap for decorations and has a lot of variety, I am just super fussy and everything has to be perfect - it took me long enough to decide on which three reindeers to get! 

I am continuing to make my room and the rest of my house super festive tomorrow and hopefully it should be finished! I am really busy tomorrow with first aiding and organising the cadets Christmas fun night as well, which I think I am looking forward to more than them! I just need to decide which of my 7 (yes 7) Christmas jumpers to wear. Today in my advent calendar I got the cutest little elf wearing a little green hat! Well that's blogmas day 4, I hope you enjoyed it and come back for day 5 tomorrow!

xxx

Can you really have one favourite Christmas film?

Some people like to start getting into the festive spirit in the middle of November and start watching Christmas films then, I am one of those people - well I do wait until the last week in November so that's a bit better. My mum on the other hand is the least excitable person when it comes to Christmas, she has her one favourite Christmas film that she will watch at least three times but apart from that she doesn't really make a fuss. I used to be like that, not really making a fuss over Christmas but over the last couple of years I've been embracing it more and more. I have 30+ Christmas DVD's most of which I really really like but there are always those favourites that will be watched more than once.

'The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus' is without a doubt one of my all time favourite Christmas films and barely anybody has even heard of it! It's amazing! I used to watch it relentlessly when I was younger on our VHS tape, so much so we had to replace the tape. The film is based around this forest called Burzee where magical creatures like pixie's live. A human baby is found in the forest and is looked after by one of the more motherly pixies. When the boy grows up, he ventures outside of the forest he has grown up in and into the human world where he discovers he has a talent of carving toys out of wood and turns his talent into a way of bringing joy to children. I love this film and it is very unknown and extremely underrated! I would even go as far to say that this is my favourite Christmas film.

There are so many great Christmas films out there. These are just a few of the many films I watch every single year. The Santa Clause 1, 2 and 3 are absolute Christmas classics as well as Home Alone 1 and 2. These films are a definite must during December, they are just such feel good great family films. Jack Frost and Miracle on 34th Street are also classics Christmas films I grew up with that are great and I will be watching them with my kids in the future. A few years ago my family and I went to see The Polar Express in the cinema, it was probably one of the last times we actually all went to the cinema together and it was on Christmas Eve, so now, every year on Christmas Eve we all watch The Polar Express together. This is probably the only family time we get to spend together these days so it's always looked forward to. Another few films that I really enjoy over the holidays are less known but still really great films: Four Christmases, Jingle All The Way, Fred Claus and Rudolph. Four Christmases is more of a comedy than a traditional Christmas movie but is a good film nevertheless (plus it has Reese Witherspoon in it and she is an amazing actress). Fred Claus, Jingle All The Way and Rudolph are more traditional and if you haven't seen them then you are going wrong and need to get them all watched. Obviously Elf is one of the best Christmas films as well but I feel it unnecessary to mention it because it is so good.

Isn't it just impossible to only have one favourite Christmas film? Today in my advent calendar I got a little saxophone and recorder, a little toy fish and another toy doll to add onto the shelves. Thanks for reading my Blogmas Day 3, come back tomorrow for day 4!

xxx

My Current Winter Favourites

October, November and December are my favourite months of the year. I hate the cold but I love Autumn and Winter months, as long as I have a good number of layers on that is! October and November had me attending quite a number of events, four of which I am including in my favourites. Firstly, at the end of October with my fellow St Andrew's volunteers, I attended a two day conference. Now a conference doesn't sound fun at all but when most of the people there are great friends and there is a three course meal and a ceilidh at night, it instantly becomes a whole lot better. I didn't actually get any pictures from this night because there was far to much social dancing to be had but it was an amazing couple of days and I got to spend it with some of the best people.

The second event is also another St Andrew's event - the St Andrew's First Aid Awards. I absolutely love this event because it allows my fellow volunteers to be rewarded and recognized for their contributions and sometimes even their heroics. Each year this event makes me increasingly prouder to be a volunteer with the company. This year everyone looked absolutely stunning, everybody had a great time and a pizza was even ordered at 3.30am!

The third and fourth events are actually musicals. I have never really been that interested in musicals and only liked a couple when I was younger. That was, until two of my favourite films were made into musicals. My mum and I attended Legally Blonde at the Kings Theatre in Glasgow at the end of October and then Sister Act at a more local theatre during the first week in November. Both productions were incredible and both my mum and I absolutely loved them. I would definitely see both of these shows again without any hesitation! The next musicals to tick off the list are definitely Matilda, Shrek and Elf - even if it is just me watching them on DVD or YouTube!

The last couple of favourites of mine are a little random. The first is poncho's. These used to be so fashionable when I was about 8 or 9 years old and I loved them, I still love them which is a good thing because they are back in fashion. For someone who is always cold, this is the best thing ever because you can layer as many clothes as you want with a poncho. I have three for the moment - a grey one, a cream & aztec one and a fawn coloured one - so I think I am covered for this winter at least. I have also been absolutely loving baths lately. Using a lush bath bomb and relaxing in a nice hot bath after a long day has been a definite lifesaver, especially when it is now so cold outside. Whilst in the bath, what better to do than watch some episodes of a favourite show? I have recently discovered a new show - Dance Moms. It is AMAZING. If you have a guilty pleasure for reality TV or for shows like Toddlers and Tiaras then you will absolutely love it but be warned because it is extremely addicting. Another show I have been watching even more than usual recently (if that's even possible) is Law and Order SVU. I really didn't think I could watch it any more than I usually do but somehow it's happened and I've managed to finally convince my friend Laura to watch it too (bonus!).

My last favourite is one of (in my opinion) the best YouTubers - The SacconeJoly's. I love this family and I genuinely feel like I know them and have done for years. Everyday I watch them and everyday they add a little bit more happiness to my day. Being able to watch Emilia and Eduardo grow up and learn new things every day is incredible and makes me want kids even more.

So that's what I've been loving recently, thanks for reading. Before I forget, today in my advent calendar I got a little shelf, a stack of books, a little doll and a football to put on the shelves! Come back tomorrow for day 3 of blogmas!

xxx

Blogmas and Blog Plans

It finally December! To me that is pretty scary since that means 2015 is nearly over already! I also haven't blogged since May which is crazy and I am definitely not going to let myself slip again.

 Autumn and Winter are my all time favourite seasons - despite me hating the cold and most likely having a pile of uni assignments to work through. I love the all the colours, clothes, the cosy nights in with hot cups of tea and blankets and of course, Christmas!

Since I haven't blogged in just over six months I am kicking it all back off again with a bang! Yes, I am doing (attempting) Blogmas. I love blogging but I lost all motivation for doing the things I enjoy, but, now it is time to get that motivation back and start blogging (a lot) more, reading more, baking more and writing more. I am thinking about changing the layout of my blog a little, maybe making it more simplistic. My Tumblr is very simplistic and I like it a lot. We will just have to see.

Now, one of the first things to build up your excitement running up towards Christmas is advent calendars. Last year I had an advent calendar from New Look and it was very cute. Each day you would get a little Christmas themed charm and then on Christmas Eve you got a bracelet to put all your charms on so you could wear the bracelet on Christmas day. I loved it but decided to go a little more fun this year. I was watching old vlogmas videos on YouTube and was reminded that Duplo produce advent calendars for kids (and adults). I instantly started searching for the perfect one and I definitely think I found it, especially since I loved Playmobil as a child. The calendar was only £13 when I purchased it but it did tend to fluctuate in price online. It's a little Santa's workshop and absolutely adorable with elves, reindeer, presents and even a little cardboard layout of Santa's workshop to display all the pieces in at the end. Each day I will let you know which little item I receive from the calendar, today it was a tiny little rocking horse. Tomorrows door looks really big though so I am really excited for that. Who said toys where for kids?

Thanks so much for reading my first Blogmas post and come back each day for something new!

xxx

Beauty Bits :)

My mum's birthday was this week so I'd been gradually picking up little gifts for her. So, naturally, when picking up beauty things for her, I picked up a few things for myself as well.

As you can see, I picked up quite a few beauty bits from various places. 

Nicky Clarke - SmoothSilk Frizz Calm Treatment

Nivea - Pearl & Beauty Deodorant

Along Came Betty - Pore Goodness Sake, Hot Cloth Cleansing Kit

Along Came Betty - Oat Extract Radiance Moisturiser

Nivea - Pearly Shine

W7 - Cover Stick (with tea tree oil)

Collection - Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer (shade - Fair)

Collection - Colour Pout Lasting Lip Stain (shade - 2 Kiss)

Technic - Volumising Mascara

Technic - Lengthening Mascara

W7 - Lip Twister 

Nivea - Raspberry Rose Lip Butter

Nivea - Blueberry Blush Lip Butter

Max Factor - Lipfinity Lasting Lip Tint (shade - 07 Coral Crush)

Max Factor - Weightless Foundation (shade - 30 Porcelain)

I'm excited to try all of these products out, especially the Pore Goodness Sake Cleansing Kit because my skin has been quite bad recently with dryness and breakouts. Some of these products may even appear at the end of the month in my May Favourites, you'll just need to wait and see xxx 

Candles, Candles, Candles :)

I love burning candles, especially in the Autumn and Winter months. Here in Scotland, we are slowly creeping into the more mild, Spring weather and I wanted a few more new and fresh scents to burn, so I picked up a few.

Primark, Tesco,Semi-Chem and Clintons are the main shops that I will go to if I am looking to pick up some more candles. Yes, Clintons is a card shop, but in my town there is a Yankee Candle section in there too; sometimes with a sale on. All the candles that I have purchased over the last few weeks are all extremely different with regards to scent but they are still all quite fresh.

The first shop I went to straight off the bus was Semi-Chem. In Semi-Chem, they have a little more pricey candles like Air Wick and Glade for half the price. I did pick up a couple of candles for my younger brother because he has been getting into candles recently too, but the only one I personally liked was the Air Wick Midnight Berry & Shimmering Mist candle at £2 which is half the price in the supermarkets. This candle is quite sweet and fruity which is why I will probably burn it alone. 

The second shop I went to was Tesco and the two huge candles in the picture above are the candles I bought from there. The purple one is Damson & Pomegranate, has a fruity and floral scent and burns for 85 hours. The orange one is Passion Fruit and Melon and also burns for 85 hours but has more of a fresh and floral scent to it despite the title and ingredients. Both of these candles came in at an absolute bargain of £5 each which is great considering a Yankee candle of the same size would probably be four or five times the price. I also picked up a pack of (27) vanilla tealights for £3 because I like to burn vanilla when I am in the bath and with other really fresh scents to add a little sweetness.

The next shop I went to was Primark. Primark is great for anything cheap, from clothing to home wear. Surprisingly I wasn't too keen on the candles there this time despite loving all the Winter and Christmas candles so I only picked up one small candle, a diffuser and a couple of candle holders. My bedroom is lilac and I have so many Yankee candle samplers so when the lilac candle holders caught my eye, I had to have them. They were only 50p each! Room diffusers are new to me but a few friends use them and loves them so I thought I would give one a try; at £2 you can't really go wrong. There where a few scents available but the only one I quite liked was the Pineapple and Ginger one. The sweet but fresh combination was just right and not too overpowering. The only actual candle I got from Primark was a small Red Berry and Jasmine one that I plan to burn with the Midnight Berry & Shimmering Mist candle from Semi-Chem because it has a very subtle fresh scent. 

The fourth and last shop I went to was Clintons, to have a browse at the Yankee Candle section. To my delight, I found a sampler scent that was given to me as a gift earlier in the year was on sale. The Waikiki Melon scent is definitely a new favourite of mine because I do love melon scents and this one is not over powering as a lot of them can be. I picked up a tealight (12) pack for only £4 in hopes of using them sparingly so they will last me a decent amount of time.

I don't think I will burn as many candles during the Spring and Summer months as I do during the Autumn and Winter months but I do have quite a few fresh scents to choose from. Thanks for reading this post, I do realise that not everybody is a fan of candles but if you are then I hope you liked this post. xxx

April Favourites :)

The first thing that I did when I finished my second year of uni was to catch up on all the TV shows I watch; I may also have started to re-watch some as well. This is the reason that the majority of my favourites this month are television related.

The 100 is a show that my friend Laura introduced me to.The show is an American, post-apocalyptic drama that is set 97 years after a nuclear war wiped out the majority of life on Earth. The only know survivors are surviving in twelve space stations bound together; there are around 2500 people living in this ship. Resources are becoming limited so a decision is made to send the 'criminal delinquents' down to Earth in specially designed pods to see if Earth is habitable. The teenagers arrive on Earth and set up camp only to find out all communication with the other survivors in space have been compromised and also that not all humanity was wiped out because of the nuclear war and that Grounders, Mountain Men and Reapers survived the war. This show is amazing and if you watch The Walking Dead or Under The Dome you will absolutely love this show, the characters are so unique and different but you love them all. There is gore, romance, fighting, adventure and very attractive people, what more do you want in a show?

Okay so a huge volume of the population watch Coronation Street I know and I used to be one of those people until about a year ago when I stopped watching. Recently I started watching again because of leaked rumors of potential storylines and they sounded intense; from 13 years olds giving birth to old characters returning. I do have about a month of episodes lift to catch up with but because I have finished uni, I have a lot more time on my hands to spend relaxing and watching even more tv!

Desperate Housewives is another show that my friend Laura introduced me to a couple of years back and I became completely hooked on the show; watching all eight seasons in six weeks. Recently I managed to convince my mum (finally) how great a show it really was and how I thought she would really like it. She agreed to watch as long as I watched it with her. We have watched two and a half seasons in just over three weeks and I even think she has watched a few more episodes without me because she loves all the characters and storylines that much! I have definitely become re-addicted to Desperate Housewives.

My friend Laura is going to absolutely love this blog post since two of her favourite things ever have been mentioned; Desperate Housewives and now Harry Potter. I have all the Harry Potter books in their original, hardback cover printing but have only read the first four and a half books out of seven. I have been avoiding the last film for two years now until I read the last book. I have even managed to avoid all spoilers! This month I decided to re-read all the books and finally finish the entire series. I have read the first three books this month and I forgot how much I loved the series. Reading the books takes me back to my childhood when I first read the books. I will definitely finish the series once and for all this time.

I have two more April Favourites, including a pair of Jeans and an App. First I will talk about the jeans. I have never and probably will never pay full price for a pair of Topshop jeans because of how expensive they are but this month I managed to get a pair of acid wash leigh jeans for under £10 and I have been wearing them constantly. They have become my new staple, go to jeans. They are so incredibly soft and don't feel like denim at all, they look great with all styles and I definitely understand the huge popularity with the Topshop jeans. 

Vinted is an App similar to eBay and Amazon in the concept that you buy and sell items via the app, except Vinted is purely for clothing and jewellery. I absolutely love this App and have not only been able to sell a few items of my clothing, but also find some incredible bargains for myself. I would recommend this App to anybody and everybody that has too many clothes (which is most girls) because you can sell the unloved clothes from your wardrobe and find some great bargains as well.

I hope you liked reading my April Favourites and that I have possibly interested you in watching The 100 or Desperate Housewives if you have never seen them before because you will definitely have no regrets. I have lot's and lot's of blog post ideas and maybe even a video, so keep an eye out, thanks xxx